


Quiet Moments

by captain_staryeyed



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hair Braiding, Hot Chocolate, One Shot Collection, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Sabacc, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-07-04 19:56:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15848292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captain_staryeyed/pseuds/captain_staryeyed
Summary: In the midst of a raging war, the Force brings them together to share these quiet moments.





	1. Chapter 1

Ben’s fingers ran through her hair, sending shivers down her spine. She picked at her worn, hand-me-down pants leg as his hands nimbly gathered and twisted strands of her hair into some gorgeous creation that they both knew she would later demand to know how he had made. 

They sat, crowded, on the twin sized bunk in her closet-sized room on the Resistance base. She knew that it was not much; however, she was endlessly grateful to have a place where she could momentarily escape from the noise and eyes of her fellow rebels. 

“Are you still mad at me?” his breath ghosting over her bare neck. He asked her this everytime the Force brought them together. 

To be honest, she had felt more betrayed than anything else. She had been certain that Ben would have joined her and returned to the Resistance. She thought that when he killed Snoke, he had turned his back to the First Order. She thought that they had come to an understanding when they fought the Praetorian guards side by side. Instead, he had asked her to turn her back on her friends and become the thing they were fighting against.

She couldn't join him, no matter how much she desired to take his hand and run away from it all. She had to protect her friends.

_He knew that, right?_

She had felt his grief and loneliness when the Force brought them together on Crait. His eyes had been overflowing with sorrow when he had looked up at her. Her heart had flipped, but she couldn’t run back to the only person who truly understood her. Her friends needed her.

So she closed the Millenium Falcon’s door on him.

They still had not talked about that night, neither wanting to relive the heartbreak they had brought upon the other. 

Nor had they dared to mention the vision they shared when they had first touched on Ahch-To.

“Yes.”

His hands stilled. She tried to steal a glance back at him, but he forced her to continue stare forward by gently tugging on the braid he was working on.

She knew he wanted an explanation, but he was not going to ask for one. He wanted to let her bring it up in her own time. She feared an explanation would start an argument, destroying this peaceful moment between them. The times the Force connected them to each other were blessed gifts in the tumultuous war, and she didn’t want her confrontation to ruin them just yet.

Ben secured the end of the braid to the top of her head with a piece of scrap wire Rey had fashioned into a pin.

“Finished,” his proclaimed, producing a simple mirror from his side of the bond.

Rey’s fingers brushed his as she reached to take it. Their eyes shot up, capturing each other, at the unexpected contact. Rey’s breathing halted, only returning when she, mirror in hand, turned away.

They still had not gotten used to the sensation their skin-on-skin contact produced. A sense of peace and tranquillity washed over them, as Force provided visions swirled in their minds, crashing together like the waves she had witnessed on Ahch-To.

In those brief moments, years of emptiness vanished. For once, she was complete. His touch was intoxicating, and it scared her.

He cleared his throat, obviously coming out of similar thoughts. She hurriedly rose the mirror to her face, a sight she still had not gotten used to. Ignoring it, she gazed at her hair and gasped.  
Ben had transformed her hair into a braided crown that circled her entire head. It looked too regal for a mere scavenger to be wearing. She swore to herself that she would leave it alone until it eventually collapsed.

“How do you know how to make such masterpieces?” her eyes refusing to tear away from the mirror.

She had not expected him to answer. He usually did not.

“I used to play with my mother’s hair before she sent me away.”

Rey caught his reflection. The memories of his mother softened his features, betraying whatever walls he was trying to construct.

She set the mirror down on her bed and shifted around so that she could face him, her knees knocking against his.

“Tell me about her.”

He smirked, “Maybe some other time.”

_I just want to spend what little time we have left focusing on you._

Rey heard his voice inside her head as clear as her own thoughts.

She blushed. She could not remember the last time someone had ever wanted to stay with her. Sure she had Finn, Rose, and Poe, but they were always buzzing around the base or revelling in each other’s company. Quite frankly, she felt like the odd one out. They probably didn’t know she felt that way, oblivious to the wall that separated them from her. They did not know how to treat her--how to understand her.

Ben did.

Their experiences, she came to find out, mirrored each other with frightening intensity.

He understood her loneliness. Her emptiness. Her fear that she will never be wanted.

Without thinking about what she was doing, Rey’s hand reached up and tentatively touched his check, the one she had left scarred what felt like so many years ago.

_So much has happened in such a short amount of time._

He flinched when she made contact. She almost jerked her hand away, but his hand covered her’s, preventing it from leaving him. After a moment, he dropped it, allowing her to freely brush her fingertips against his skin.

She traced his scar, marking a trail down his face. As she did so, his eyes roamed all over her face, as if committing each detail to memory.

Her path stopped just under his jaw, but she did not reclaim her hand.

She knew she might regret doing it. She also knew that she would regret not doing it.

Using her stilled hand, she pulled him down to her level, and ever so gently, pressed her lips against his.

She could tell he stopped breathing. Rey started to pull away, but Ben’s hands found their way to the curve of her neck and pulled her back. His kisses were passionate but soft as if he did not want to scare her away. As if he feared that he might break her, even though she had proven otherwise.

She did not know at what point she put her hands in his hair, but when they finally broke apart, grinning like idiots, she found that they had gotten tangled.

“Wow.”

“Wow,” she agreed.

“So, are you still mad at me?”

“Maybe.” 

She pulled him back into a long, slow kiss.

“No.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Why does your hair look so soft after you wash it?”

Ben turned around to see Rey standing in the middle of his living corridors. She appeared to be dressed for somewhere cold. The puffy second-hand coat she wore dwarfed her, making her look more like a child who had gotten into her parent’s closet rather than the strong survivor he knew she was. 

She was on Hoth--or another cold planet like it-- if he were to guess. He knew better than to ask her, though, so he waved the thought from his mind.

“How did you know that I just washed it?” he asked. 

“You..um...you’re...uh,” Rey’s cheeks reddened, and she gestured to him.

Ben looked down, only to find out that he was standing shirtless in front of her again.

“Oh, right.”

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”

Ben’s lip quirked. “Does my state of undress embarrass you?”

Rey, who had previously been looking at everything but him, forced herself to meet his eyes.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Ben pulled his tunic over his head, buying himself time to recall her question. It was a tad disheartening to know that the Supreme Leader of the First Order could get so easily distracted by how cute his enemy looked flustered.

“Conditioner.”

Rey gave him a blank look.

Ben’s face fell. “Kriff, please tell me your scrawny Resistance has conditioner.”

“We don’t have the luxury of anything other than shampoo and a bar of soap.”

“Hold on.” 

Ben charged into his bathroom and grabbed his still wet bottle of conditioner out of the ‘fresher. He used his hand towel to wipe the excess ‘fresher water off the bottle before he made his way  
back to his living quarters.

“Here,” he said, handing the bottle to Rey. “Please use this.”

“Oh, no. I can’t take this, it’s yours.”

“I’m the Supreme Leader. I can send for another bottle.”

She stared down at the bottle in her hands for a moment.

“You’re really proud of that title, aren’t you?”

She had said it so softly, Ben almost didn’t hear her.

“I wouldn’t have to bare it if you would have accepted my offer.”

Rey took a step closer to him. His heart raced. He had to force himself to not wrap her in his arms and hold her until the war ended and they could be free to be together.

Peering up at him, she said in a low voice, “You know why I couldn’t.”

He knew why. _Kriff_ , he knew why.

That didn’t mean he had to like her decision.

But at the same time, if she had joined him, she wouldn’t be the same person. The same person who stood up for those weaker than her for goodness sake. The same person who saw the light in him, despite all that he had done to her and her friends. The same person he had fallen in love with.

That is what had happened, right? He had fallen in love with her. He had never felt this way toward another person, and it’s not like he could ask Hux what these feelings he had toward her meant.

Ben bit back a smile, imagining how awkward that scenario would be.

“You think it will transfer over the bond?” He asked, switching topics.

“I guess we’ll see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear the next chapter won't be about hair!
> 
> Also, I forgot if the bathroom was called the refresher, or if that was just the shower. If I was wrong, please let me know, so I can edit it.
> 
> Thank you so much again for reading! It really means a lot to me.


	3. Chapter 3

Rey’s eyes shot open. Her breath shook as she tried to calm herself down. Her nightmares had woken her up three times that week alone. She despaired adding another unpleasant awakening to her list. 

It wasn’t until her heartbeat slowed down considerably that she noticed something was off. An invisible force tingled the base of her head and whispered a low buzz in her ears.

_Not now._

 

“I’m sorry if I woke you up,” Rey said, wrapping her thin, wool blanket over her shoulders. 

“It’s okay.” Ben’s sheets slipped as he pushed himself up in his bed. “I couldn’t sleep anyway.”

He couldn’t recall the last time he had gotten a full night’s sleep. He was even less sure of the last time he had not woken up in a cold sweat.

Rey yawned and stared off into space. Ben took this time to inspect her without her knowledge.

Her once bright, hazel eyes were dull and lifeless. He couldn’t tell if it was just the lighting, but he was sure that there were dark circles under her eyes. Her hair, despite it being pulled back into a braid that had to be of his mother’s creation, stuck out every which way. He had a feeling that his sleep-deprived appearance mirrored her’s great. 

“Are you okay?”

Rey opened her mouth to respond but changed her mind, shaking her head instead.

 

Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Rey watched as Ben stood up and left the room. She did not know how long he had been gone before he came back with two matching grey mugs. Sitting down on the floor next to her cot, he handed her one of them. Rey used the corners of her blanket to accept his offering. 

She watched steam lazily dance above the brown liquid inside the ceramic cup. She was not well acquainted with the many drinks the galaxy had to offer, but typically brown liquids were a bad sign. Ben wouldn’t give her contaminated water, would he?

“What is this?”

Ben stopped blowing on his drink and answered her question in a wistful tone. “Hot chocolate. Skywalker used to love this stuff. He brought a batch of it to my mother once when he came to visit.”

“But why are you giving it to me?”

“Whenever I would wake up from a particularly bad nightmare, my mother would bring me a cup of hot chocolate and sit up with me until I fell back to sleep.” 

Her heart softened at the faint smile that ghosted his lips.

Rey slid off her bed and sat down next to him.

“Tell me more stories about your childhood.”

 

Ben took a sip of the exotic beverage, trying to recall a story that hadn’t been tainted by Snoke’s hold on him.

“I remember one time when my Uncle Lando--he was one of Han’s friends from before he met my mom--one time when he came to visit, he brought some of this stuff with him, too. I guess everyone in my family loves this stuff--Skywalkers and extended. Anyways, he and Han and the Wookie were watching me one night, and we were all drinking this when suddenly asks if I had ever played Sabacc. I was five at the time, so of course, I hadn’t. So he taught me. I’m pretty sure they let me win a few rounds.” He chuckled lost in the memory of it all. “Leia was not happy when she found out that he taught her son to gamble.”

As Ben spoke, Rey slowly inched closer to him until she was leaning against his arm.

“That sounds nice,” she mumbled to her drink. Glancing up at Ben she spoke in a louder voice. “Can you teach me how to play that sometime?”

“Of course. I think I have a deck somewhere around here.”

 

Rey yawned. Her eyes grew heavy. She set her emptied mug on the floor and shifted so that her head rested on his thigh.

“Tell me another story.”

 

Ben’s heat stammered at the change in Rey’s position. Ben wondered if they should move to the bed, so she could fall asleep on something softer than the floor. However, something in him knew that if he suggested moving, he would break the spell.

Instead, he gently laid his hand on her blanket-covered shoulder. 

“Of course, sweetheart.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Favorite flower?” Ben studied his playing cards, barely sparing a glance at his opponent.

Rey and Ben sat on the floor of her tiny quarters hunched over a game of Sabacc. After three games, she finally felt like she was starting to get the hang of the popular card game. 

“I’m not sure. Jakku didn’t have many plants.” After a moment’s thought, she added another card to her hand. She tried to suppress a grin. “Nightblossoms, I guess. I kept one on a makeshift table in my home.”

Ben tapped the tops of his cards in contemplation, then, with a satisfactory smirk, laid them down face up. 

“Green daisies,” he supplied. “Those are my favorite.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen those, but” --she threw down her winning hand, evoking a surprised (and, perhaps, even proud) expression from Ben--”you should show me them sometime.”

Ben gathered the cards and began to reshuffle them. “Maybe I will. But they look better when they’re alive, so I’ll have to bring you to them.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

His hand hesitated as he dealt out the cards. “Are you serious?”

His breath was heavy with disbelief, and eyes brimmed with hope.

_Stars, his eyes were pretty._

“Well, not right now.” His shoulders sagged. She quickly continued, “But, yeah, I’d like to go see them with you sometime. You know, when we are free of our responsibilities.”

“You mean after the war?”

“Not exactly…” Another possibility had been swimming around in the back of her mind for the past few weeks. 

“What are you proposing, scavenger?” 

_Scavenger. _The name now devoid of contempt, sounded like an endearment.__

__Rey opened her mouth to respond, but before she could speak, a knock echoed throughout her chambers._ _

__“Rey? Are you in there?” Rose’s voice, slightly muffled by the metal door, called out._ _

__Rey’s eyes widened, and her heartbeat sped up. “Uh, yeah--Yes, I’m here.”_ _

__The door slid open, and her dark companion disappeared._ _

__Rose peered down at her. “What are you doing on the floor?”_ _

__“I was, um, meditating.”_ _

__The maintenance tech flushed. “Oh, I’m sorry I interrupted you. I can just come back another time.”_ _

__“No, it’s fine. I was just finishing up.” Rey offered the shorter girl a smile._ _

__She hadn’t spent much time with Rose, but from how Finn went on about her, she knew the girl was special. Knowing that her best friend had found someone who captured his affection filled Rey’s heart with warmth._ _

__“I was wondering if you would be willing to help me with some repairs on the Falcon. Finn raves about your talent for fixing things, and, well, all of the other techs are preoccupied with repairing the ancient equipment and speeders we found on the base, and I don’t think I can fix a ship of that size alone. But if you’re too busy, that’s fine!”_ _

__Rey’s eyes brightened at the idea. “I would love to fix the Falcon with you.”_ _

__“Really?”_ _

__“Sure. Any friend of Finn’s is a friend of mine.”_ _

__The nervous tension in Rose’s shoulders loosened, and she burst into a wide grin._ _

__“Let’s go.” Rey got to her feet and followed the other girl out to the hanger bay, cheerfully listening to her excitedly ramble the whole way._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Rey and Rose bonding time! They are one of my favorite platonic ships (right after Peter Parker x Shuri and Carswell Thorne x Cinder)
> 
> Note: Wookiepeedia listed Spinebarrels and Nightblossoms as the same thing, so I just chose one of the names.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this small fic. I hope you enjoyed it!  
> I am not accustomed to writing romance, so this one-shot was born of me trying to better my writing skills in that area.


End file.
